Wilts#Dave
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Posts posted by Wilts#Dave
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I must say, I’m only 38 but have been shooting pigeons with my Dad since I was 12 years old so been doing it a while.....whilst I still get always get some really good days each year, they’re much harder to come by these days in our area, and drilling’s in particular I still scout religiously but rarely produce enough numbers for a go. When I was in my early 20’s I was forever seeing opportunities on all crops throughout the year, and I definitely think the decline in winter rape grown here has pushed the pigeons away all through the winter.
In the last few years we’ve had more peas than ever and even they definitely don’t produce like they used to on the drill.
Did manage to shoot 60 odd last week (half pigeons/half corvids) on an impromptu 2.30 start session over drilled barley, I’d checked the field the previous two days since it was drilled with low numbers but happened upon it again the following afternoon when we had the kit with us and was nicely littered with birds, but I suspect they’d have been gone the next day. The field we had planned to shoot that had birds on and a good flight the day before was dead, yet plenty of grain showing.
Definitely very small windows to shoot them over drilling’s now, if they happen to bother with the field at all that is.
I’ll never stop looking though, much to my other half’s amusement! -
Lovely post and read! Nothing better than happening upon an unexpected busy day after a dry spell!
Winters seem to have got worse and worse over the years here, much to my frustration. -
It never goes down does it, take take take from those that aren’t on the scrounge it seems,
£220/month mine’s just gone up to, does seem an awful lot of money for what you see for it! -
265/70/17’s go on an otherwise standard l200 with standard wheels....look so much better too!
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Very difficult to say whether or not the amount you’ve been quoted is ridiculous or not (it does sound expensive if as straightforward as it sounds, no new boiler etc), but most likely he’ll be used to making that sort of money on a boiler ‘change’ where they supply a boiler. The sort of profit in those jobs for a days work!
Does make me laugh how much some customers think tradesmen should charge/earn though, whilst they earn their 6 figure salary or whatever doing an office job/going to work in a suit.
I’m afraid a good electrician/plumber etc that are signing off work as ‘safe’ and have to be qualified/pay for the privilege have a skill set worth a fair chunk of money, whether you agree or not!
I’ve lucky that I’ve never had to advertise for work, and have realised good honest tradesmen are in short supply......if you’re any good you’ll be busy (I’d be more worried if someone can start next week). -
6 hours ago, D_shooter said:
My old man has had two over the last few years. A 1.6 k series and a R500 super light.
Neither one had a spanner turned on it in the years of ownership, only servicing.
Are you after a factory built caterham or a home made kit car? They really have no similarities apart from vague looks.
Happy to answer any questions if you have any.
You’re spot on, Caterham’s cost the money they do for a reason.....they’re not to be confused with a home brew x flow Westfield/bike engines locosts etc where the spec alters wildly.
They’re proven, handle properly and use ‘proper’ parts that work well as a package. A lot of money for what they are but you’re buying the best, a friend of mine ran a race team that focused on Caterhams and they have great dealer/factory back up etc for such a small company and aren’t really unreliable as such (certainly no worse than a defender haha), due to such light weight they don’t need to run particularly highly tuned engines for starters.....even the low end 1.6’s are quick enough to have fun in on the roads!
I don’t own one, but I’d love to and would only go for a Caterham kit car wise.....I do lots of trackdays in a hot hatch and often think about one as a replacement at some point. -
1 hour ago, Lloyd90 said:
Waste of time in the bank. The bank emailed me start of Covid to say they’re were putting the awful rate offered down even lower, to 0%.
Got mine in my stocks and shares ISA.
Up 15% in total since I started maybe 2 years ago. Had a slight dip during start of Covid but never went negative.
More risk obviously.
Best thing I should have done, when I finished Uni I saw a Rolex Air King in the shop I liked, I didn’t buy it. They’re considerably more expansive now and you can’t get one from what I’ve seen.
Should have bought it and left it in the box under the bed 🤣
Rolex sports watches are generally waiting list/by invitation only which hikes the secondhand prices up sometimes hugely!
submariner ‘hulk’ (green bezel) for example were recently discontinued, were always a several year wait minimum anyway and are now going for 2-3 times rrp as you just can’t get them.
Great investments! -
I’ll have to say it, I dread to think of the hash you’ll make of it with little to no clue on lighting circuits etc.....I’ve yet to see a decent diy electrical job 😂
Very easy job for an electrician, would be a minimum charge job for me plus materials so for what it’s worth just get someone in and get it done properly!
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3 hours ago, Balotelli said:
Good job that Mr Pigeon doesn't operate in Leicestershire. Unless he's some sort of Pied Piper he would most likely have some pretty poor days. According to your post, he's very fortunate that he operates in an area which is riddled with pigeons.
It’s a good job he’s not operating in my area too, but have a look at the sort of numbers Gerwyn shoots himself for starters.... that should tell you something. Anthony Poolman shoots 20,000 plus a year for a start, just because you struggle doesn’t mean there aren’t large numbers of pigeons in parts of the country!
I’m equally as envious, you can only make the best of what you’ve got to go at. -
7 hours ago, Balotelli said:
"Blasting away" at no pigeons doesn't sound like great value. Pheasant drives are predictable pigeons aren't.
How do you know there are ‘no’ pigeons? He’s in a prime area where big numbers are shot at the time of year he’ll have guns out.....obviously you can’t arrange the days as you do with pheasants but some people in the right area with access to the right ground could put you under good numbers of pigeons on the right days no trouble at all.
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50 minutes ago, Topgun113 said:
Met this chap at the game dealers! Reckons he gets 45/50 clients A year! And he says he's got a huge waiting list and gives the farmer 1/4 of the days money! MADNESS
There will always be people with money to burn, who get bored with blasting away at endless pheasants on all the big numbers days they do and fancy doing the same on pigeons without all the hard work/time that goes with pigeon shooting like the majority of us have!
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32 minutes ago, Balotelli said:
I couldn't make sense of Mr Pigeon's, aka Gerwyn Jones, charging structure either. As for the reviews mmmm....... It would also appear that Mr Pigeon's days are all sold out, so little point in advertising sold out days . If there are idiots willing to pay £1000 a day wouldn't they be better off buying a day's pheasant shoot with guaranteed birds? There's no doubt that the Welsh boyo is a good shot but the whole concept of his pigeon drives is somehow gross.
Well I didn’t realise Gerwyn Jones was ‘mr pigeon’......I thought he was shooting with ‘mr pigeon’ in a video he did with one of the shooting channels, at least that’s how it comes across when watching!
Seemed a crazy cash cow price to me, aimed at those with more money than sense (clearly plenty of those).
He seems to spend all his time shooting actually, on all the top estates etc at both pigeons and pheasants so can’t be short of money in the first place.....not sure what he does for a loving but didn’t think he was a pigeon guide! -
2 hours ago, team tractor said:
I just don’t worry and have one . I pay £57 a month gas and electric currently for a 4 bed house .
Blimey, are you ever home / and or switch the heating on?
Otherwise Gas and electric must be cheap where you are! -
On 25/10/2020 at 15:24, Westward said:
I didn't say it isn't permitted, I said - and I'm speaking as an engineer - it's bad practice.
Sorry, but not ‘bad practise’ at all, especially when it comes to ‘alterations’ not wiring from scratch where it wouldn’t be an issue. Perfectly well permitted to run horizontal or vertical from an accessory. What it would be is be poor time management taking carpet/floor up to run cable down and back up to a socket a foot over to one side!
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That’s just how it goes sometimes, does sap your confidence in reading situations but then you’ll get a run of really good days and confidence is restored. I always say you don’t really know what will happen until you set up and give it a go, some days it’s almost too easy!
I must say unusually I’ve had very few poor days this summer and had several turn out much better than expected, but rest assured it won’t last.
Still a fruitful outing, it’s always nice to at least see the pigeons 😁 -
Cracking day, 100 plus is always a good day!
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12 hours ago, motty said:
I still have a hell of a lot of stubbles to shoot. One in particular I am expecting a big bag from, if it is left for a week or two more.
That’s the only trouble sometimes, I had my eye on shooting a spring barley stubble that had a nice lot on and building up.....popped by and being disced in already after only being cut a few days ago!
Shot some stubble yesterday that always produces if left but shot it early instead as I know they’ll be cultivating soon, shot 60 in a few hours so not terrible.
Have you got the good fields to yourself so to speak, waiting for them to build up? -
4 hours ago, motty said:
I understand if people want to lay birds out in rows, but many of us probably can't be bothered. If I had only ever shot a couple of ton bags I would probably present the birds differently for a photo, but after a good day I generally want to pack up and get gone.
Agree, last thing you want to be doing after a busy day.....it takes long enough picking up as it is without faffing about lining them up in rows!
At the end of the day, the reason for the bag jealousy is when you can’t do it yourself. I don’t shoot the 3/4/500 bird days some do regularly but that’s only down to not having such numbers in my area, I get plenty of 1-200 days which is enough and the odd bigger day.Doesn’t mean I disbelieve those that shoot the huge bags, why would you just because they shoot more than you?
The photos I take after days are me and the old man to look back over, which I quite like doing from time to time!
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Shot some of my best bags over beans, and certainly the last time a block was grown on a good farm we have access to they were a magnet when direct drilled in the spring and provided three days on stubble averaging 150 a time.
I would say they love bean stubble, in my area anyway. Was a shame when people all bit stopped growing them in our area, the above report was the first time I’d shot over any for a good few years.
This year several farms we have access to have a good acreage in though so will be keeping an eye out with anticipation once harvested.3 hours ago, Balotelli said:That's encouraging. I'd settle for a dozen at the moment. I don't hold out that much hope and sorry to labour the point but if there are no pigeons in the area then wishful thinking on my part. Interestingly enough we have rape surface sown on stubble. Not a pigeon to be seen.
You won’t find any pigeons hitting rape drillings, unless they happen to like the stubble field they’ve been drilled into.
There just isn’t enough spilt seed (none in fact generally). -
52 minutes ago, Balotelli said:
Group Chat?
I think the problem you’re having is struggling to find/shoot any by yourself, and wanting others to help you out?
You’re right it is a strange mentality pigeon shooters seem to have in the respect of sharing. I’ve been shooting them regularly for over 20 years and Dad double that and no one has ever gifted me any days.
I enjoy finding them myself to be honest, and working out where I’m going to get etc.
I offered one chap that shares a permission to team up but only did it the once as he wanted to bring various mates with him also, although obviously now only one of us generally gets any shooting there.
Good days don’t tend to fall in your lap, hence why no one wants to help you out!
I’d suggest you just get over that bit and enjoy the days you can find yourself.
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Cracking PC, yet realistic at the same time.
From 24 to 386 in the space of a week just shows how even in a very good pigeon area like yours they still move around and pick parts of an area to really home in on.
Can’t imagine ever shooting that sort of number here, had a 250 odd day this summer though and that seemed like non stop shooting in an afternoon so you must have been busy!!
Keep it up! Having trouble getting rid of such numbers this year which has also curtailed my shooting somewhat. -
17 hours ago, motty said:
You can get lucky, but hours of driving and watching will always pay off in the end.
In essence that really is what it’s about....but you can’t tell people!
If you don’t take the time to drive round and look on a regular basis you’ll never shoot good bags often, end of story. Too many people want to just set up on a field of stubble and shoot 100 pigeons without doing the homework! -
Plenty do exaggerate, seen it first hand but god knows why? I get some really good days sometimes, and got a camera roll on my phone full of photos of them if I need to ‘prove’ what I shoot. Have plenty of not so great days though and happy to admit that!
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Won’t hit rape drilling generally, unless a previous seed from the stubble happens to be present perhaps......worth keeping an eye on but will be into the winter when you’ll likely get some shooting, if the flea beetle don’t get to the crop first!
Is Pigeon Shooting Over Spring Drillings Now A Thing Of The Past ?
in Talk From The Field
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It’s really odd and you/we will never understand why some areas pigeons are just drawn too in huge numbers while another area that grows the same ‘magic’ crops produce very few birds......some of the guys you see shoot endless huge bags it’s not that that they’re ‘better’ but simply have the numbers to go at week in week out. It’s actually rather easy to shoot good bags of pigeons if you know what you’re doing when there’s plenty about, well I find that to be the case anyway!
Likewise some people shoot them over crops that they might not touch in your area, which is hard to fathom sometimes.
When you love pigeon shooting it’s tough reading about the endless amounts of pigeons some people get the opportunity to shoot when pickings are slim where you are right now, but that’s just how it is!